Just picked up this little old Diana. It's a D24 .177 cal with a white factory paint job and a 'Star' moniker plus snazzy stripes added to the usual outfit. These guns, alongside the Diana Sport (brightly painted D34's), were all the rage for a short while in the later 80's, in Diana's attempt to meet 80's esthetics / buying audience. I used to see these in airgun ads back then, as a school kid, so, there's a measure of nostalgia working on me here. I already own a blue Diana Sport, and now I have a little sister for her.
If the 80's paint job wasn't enough to tell, my new gun is stamped Made in West Germany; the tiny 04 / 89 (88?) stamp at the back of the receiver brings the dating job home. This gun was apparently made mere months after my blue Sport.
The D24 lacks open sights, which is a bummer. The factory sights in these 80's guns were MUCH better than what's presently available as replacement parts, or on new guns.
The barrel and the receiver are somewhat beat up, a little rusty, the bluing has worn off in several places (a first for me), and the 35-y-o. paint job on the stock has chipped on almost all edges, in addition to many scratches. It really wasn't the brightest idea Diana ever got, in terms of longevity.
The gun cocks and locks smoothly and solidly, after all these years. I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet. I don't think anyone has been inside this gun since it left the factory.
The Diana has a T01-type safety and a trigger adjustment hole in the trigger guard, which both promised a good, adjustable trigger, like in my Sport. But the trigger blade is a stamped steel blade without any adjustment possibility. The trigger seems to have a long first stage and something resembling a second stage wall just before the trigger goes all the way back.
With the not-so-hot external condition, I paid just a small sum for this gun, not enough to buy a Chinese entry level rifle new. This is still a German gun under the paint job, something that can shoot with terrific accuracy for a really long time.
At this stage (and in the pics) I have scrubbed the gun's metal parts with Ballistol-soaked 0000 steel wool, adjusted the overly tight pivot bolt and cleaned the barrel with both dry and Ballistol-soaked patches. I want to see how the old girl shoots as is before taking the (likely very) tired powerplant out.
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